WRCAC Telemental Health Resource Center

Engagement 

Webinar Series: Making a Good Connection: Engaging Students and Families in School Tele-Mental Health This three-part webinar series is geared toward providers who are making the transition from in-person to telehealth services. Session content focuses on practical strategies and equity concerns related to engaging children, adolescents and families using distance technology.

Webinar: From In-Person to On-Screen: Best Practices in Telemental Health with Children & Adolescents Online group therapy affords therapists a chance to reach more clients while empowering clients with the wisdom and experience of other people facing similar challenges. It also presents a number of ethical and privacy concerns. Here’s how therapists can master the challenging balancing act of online group therapy.

Webinar: Virtual Group Therapy With a transition to virtual methods for treatment, you can also consider conducting virtual group therapy sessions. This webinar includes a focus on engagement, connection, group cohesion between the members and increasing participation within the virtual group process. Group facilitators and leaders learn about how to use different types of skills to facilitate group discussion. This is for those beginning a new group or for those maintaining a group and transitioning to the virtual process. What you need to consider for group treatment, including fit, in an online environment is discussed in detail.

Tip Sheet: Virtual Group Therapy This tip sheet includes some helpful tips to consider as you adapt to new telemental health technology solutions for group therapy.

Online Group Therapy: Tips for Therapists Online group therapy affords therapists a chance to reach more clients while empowering clients with the wisdom and experience of other people facing similar challenges. It also presents a number of ethical and privacy concerns. This resource offers guidance for therapists on mastering the challenging balancing act of online group therapy.

Tip Sheet: Telehealth and Persons with Disabilities: What Psychologists Should Know This tip sheet from the APA provides guidance on providing telehealth services to individuals with disabilities.

Developing Rapport and Therapeutic Alliance During Telemental Health Sessions with Children and Adolescents (Goldstein & Gleuck, 2016) Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the special considerations for building rapport and establishing a therapeutic alliance when conducting mental health evaluations for children and adolescents via videoconferencing. Methods: The authors review the literature and describe their experience in conducting mental health evaluations, developing rapport, and establishing a therapeutic alliance during telemental health practice. Results: Clinical need and shortages of clinicians with expertise in evaluating mental conditions for children and adolescents in underserved communities have stimulated the rapid expansion of telemental health programs while the research base continues to develop. The emerging evidence base and clinical experience suggest that teleclinicians can, and do, build rapport and establish a therapeutic alliance during telemental health sessions with youth and families. Families may be more accepting of telemental health approaches than clinicians. The impact that technology, equipment, site staff, community supports, cultural identification, and teleclinicians’ characteristics have on building rapport and establishing a therapeutic alliance should be considered when establishing a telemental health service. Staff at the patient site and referring providers have a valuable role in supporting the therapeutic alliance between telemental health providers and their patients, and ultimately supporting the success of a telemental health program. Conclusions: Teleclinicians are creative in transcending the videoconferencing technology to evaluate patients using guideline-based care. Further research is needed to determine how clinicians build rapport and establish a therapeutic alliance during telemental health sessions, and whether the therapeutic alliance is associated with the accuracy of evaluation and outcomes.

Getting Clients Excited About Your Online Counseling Services This hour video, presented by Kat Love, walks through the process of building a website that clients seeking online care will feel comfortable connecting with. She discusses website essentials and content essentials that demonstrate what types of online counseling you will be providing. 

Therapist Toolbox (Online Counseling Directory) This toolbox was developed to help online counselors with their ethical, legal and overall counseling needs when using telemental health platforms. 

Family Engagement Inventory (FEI) – Family Engagement Practice Level Strategies – The Family Engagement Inventory (FEI) from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau is designed to assist professionals in child welfare, juvenile justice, behavioral health, early education, and education to learn how family engagement is defined and implemented across these fields of practice. This page provides information on the practice level domain, which includes methods, plans of action, processes, and/or policies designed to be used by frontline staff of each discipline in order to enhance or achieve family engagement.

Simple Strategies for Intervening with Traumatized or Dysregulated Youth This 5 minute micro learning is adapted from Dr. Ezechukwu’s presentation and describes how self-regulation and dysregulation develops, and introduces strategies to build attunement and manage de-escalation.

Practical Interventions to Help Children Affected by Trauma This 5 minute micro learning adapted from Multiplying Connections is focused on teaching children’s services professionals the impact of trauma on development, how to recognize children’s reactions to trauma, and how to promote healing through trauma informed care.

 

Virtual Activities 
  • SkillGamesBoard Online games for use in tele-mental health sessions with students to increase engagement such as Connect Four, Checkers, Chess, and Puzzles.
  • Virtual Calming Room This virtual calming room includes online mindfulness and activities including coloring, meditations, journaling, and yoga.